Boy, 6, told he has a massive tumour...after 11 visits to GP
A BOY of six visited his GP a staggering 11 times before being diagnosed with the “largest tumour” doctors had seen.
Ellis Edwards has stage four aggressive neuroblastoma, a rare cancer affecting nerve cells, which was missed on numerous trips to his local surgery.
He was eventually diagnosed in March, and has since gone through 11 months of extensive treatment.
His parents, Carly and Andrew, spoke out about their family’s ordeal to markWorld Cancer Day yesterday.
Deflated
The couple, from Bournemouth, had originally noticed the youngster was lacking energy and losing weight.
After 11 visits to their GP, they eventually took him to A&E to get some answers.
X-rays discovered Ellis’s left lung had been deflated by what doctors are said to have called the largest tumour they had seen.
Ellis was immediately taken to Southampton General Hospital, where he was put on emergency chemotherapy. By 6pm that evening, his diagnosis of the rare child cancer had been confirmed.
The brave youngster has been receiving care at the hospital ever since, with his family staying at a house nearby arranged by the CLIC
Sargent children’s cancer charity. In December, Ellis’s chances of survival were rated by doctors as 50-50.
But he is due to return home shortly to continue his treatment, leaving his mother “feeling positive for the first time in months”.
Carly, 37, added: “We were told to prepare ourselves for the worst and pack our bags for a long stay before being blue-lighted together in an ambulance to Southampton General.
“Without CLIC Sargent’s amazing help, I don’t know how we’d have coped these past few months.
“We have more tests coming up, and his survival is still far from guaranteed, but for the first time in months we feel positive.”